


When You Least Expect

by constantconfusion14



Series: Toa Oneshots [1]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Mention of Death, Panic Attack, b/c where there's a temporary death there's trauma, falling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:22:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27733735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constantconfusion14/pseuds/constantconfusion14
Summary: The thing about repressed memories is you don't realize they're there...until you suddenly do. Douxie, Archie and Nari set out to have a relaxing walk through the park, but everything is derailed by the simple act of tripping and falling.
Series: Toa Oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028712
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	When You Least Expect

**Author's Note:**

> Things like this come to be when I use writing solely as a stress reliever. A decent chunk of this one-shot is distorted/confusing on purpose but I hope it doesn't make it too difficult to follow. 
> 
> WARNING: Detailed description of a panic attack and mention of death

It was a perfect day outside, really it was. Ultimately, the gorgeous weather they'd had all day was what convinced Douxie to offer an evening stroll to Archie and Nari. He’d already finished his morning shift and was off for the rest of the day. Nari hadn’t been outside in a few weeks and Archie had been wanting to stretch his legs for a while, too. Even if it wasn't long, some time outside would prove beneficial to them all. And with such nice weather, there was no better opportunity. 

Nari and Archie agreed almost immediately. The former jumped up and down excitedly as soon as Douxie presented the idea to them. He was fairly certain she began glowing faintly, her hair becoming a brighter green by the second. As if someone had finally watered their grass after weeks and weeks of drought, she bloomed with joy in front of him. It was a beautiful thing. “Thought you two might be interested. Here, grab what you need and we’ll head out. Better to enjoy the day before the sun sets and we lose this perfect temperature. I’ll go get your hat.” Douxie stood up from where he’d been crouching in front of Nari. 

“Yes! And I shall put on my jacket!” She jumped again before running towards the door where her small jacket hung off a short hook on the wall. Douxie walked back to the only bedroom in the small apartment and grabbed their hats. A large black snapback for him and Nari’s oversized beanie. Honestly, they were terrible disguises. But in this expressive day and age, they’d only received compliments on Nari’s antlers thus far. Sure, people threw strange glances their way, but only compliments had been verbalized. Douxie was taking it as a win. 

He pulled his cap over his head and walked back out to the others. Nari held her arms back in anticipation and Douxie pulled her coat over her shoulders. She turned around habitually and stood still, allowing Douxie to zip up the front of the jacket. Once the metal clasp was pulled up to her neck, she lowered her head and allowed Douxie to pull the beanie over her hair and antlers. Once she was fully suited up, Nari jumped around again and reached for the door handle, pulling it open easily. Douxie smiled at her child-like wonder and excitement, but it was accompanied by a tinge of guilt. There was no reason Nari of The _Eternal Forest_ should ever be deprived of nature for so long. She deserved better. 

“Care to accompany us, Douxie?” Archie turned back to look at him from the hallway, trying to keep one eye on the wizard and one eye on Nari as she raced down the hall towards the entrance of the staircase. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m coming.” Douxie shook his head, forcing his focus to turn on the joy of the moment. He knew he was doing the best he could manage at the moment. More importantly, Archie and Nari knew that, too. Their understanding was most of what was keeping him aloft at this point. He followed his familiar eagerly, locking their apartment behind him. As he was turning away, he sealed the magical wards over the small area. Obviously, no one was home, but it was better to constantly protect what few belongings they had. Just in case. 

It took them a while to reach Central Park, but none of them seemed to mind very much. Nari gazed and marveled at the sights and sounds of the city. She laughed at some displays in the store fronts and stared in awe at the massive screens plastered in the middle of squares. She discreetly sprinkled trace amounts of magic on the small trees they passed every few feet on the sidewalk. As soon as her magic landed on the leaves, the plant perked up and glowed with the same energy Nari was exuding. 

“Careful, Nari. If you glow much brighter, the Order will be able to track down your enthusiasm alone.” Douxie chuckled lightly as she skipped along. Archie crouched upon his wizard’s shoulder, smiling at the nature spirit. 

Nari just smirked back, wrinkling her nose. “The air is terrible here. These trees need much more space in order to help clean it. I can give them what they need to thrive.” She walked up to the next tree on their path and lovingly stroked the leaves. Douxie couldn’t help but feel for the scene. Nari belonged in nature, there was no denying it. As awful as it was, Douxie was relying on that fact to keep them hidden. Hopefully the Order would never suspect her to hide out in one of the most over-crowded urban areas on the planet. (Operative word being hopefully).

When they’d finally arrived at the park, Nari broke away from the other two at a sprint. She rushed right into the first tree she saw and hugged it deeply. Her face was pressed up against its harsh bark, but the demigod had seemingly never been happier. Nari deserved this. She deserved this and much, much more. 

“She's certainly in her element, isn’t she?” Archie chimed in, completing Douxie’s thoughts aloud. 

“Yeah. I wish we could come here more often. But...we can't. It's not safe to be out in public too often.” Douxie looked down to the side, feeling increasingly more guilty for his choice of residency. 

“Unfortunately, you’re right. Both of us know you are and it's not your fault. New York is one of the safest places for us right now, but one day we'll find someplace better for her." Archie spoke to his wizard before turning his attention to Nari. He smiled at her as she unapologetically rolled in the grass. "However, it is nice when we get a chance to do something like this. After all we’ve been through recently, it’s good to relax once in a while.” The cat closed his eye and extended his face into the slight evening breeze. Douxie felt a gentle rumble vibrate through his body as his familiar purred against his shoulder. It was a beautiful evening. 

They slowly made their way through the park, weaving on and off the path. Nari ran to every tree and plant, livened every flower and brushed every single blade of grass as if each held the secrets of the universe. It was painfully obvious how much she cared about life, no matter how small. As the evening continued, the sky dimmed to a navy blue and the crowds dispersed slightly. Douxie looked around after a while and sighed tiredly. Archie seemed to understand what he was going to suggest before he even spoke. 

“Time to head home?” The cat’s purr had quieted slightly, but still rolled through his body. Douxie nodded solemnly in response, already looking towards Nari. She was walking down a small hill, directly next to a cement staircase. Of course though, rather than taking the typical path, Nari had chosen to follow the natural route. The worn grass bloomed a little brighter under her feet. Douxie pushed off the bench he’d been sitting on and walked down the sidewalk towards the demigod. She was nearly at the foot of the staircase, keeping her eyes on the ground as she watched the life beneath her flourish. 

Unlike Nari, Douxie chose to take the more direct path. His feet followed the steps without him having to look where he was stepping next. Rather, his gaze was focused on Nari, ensuring no one stepped closer to her than necessary. It may have been an evening of ‘relaxation’ for his companions, but for Douxie it was the opposite. He’d been uncomfortably vigilant the entire night, his neck and shoulders tight with tension. They’d been safe thus far, but he wasn’t going to breath normally until they were locked inside their magically-protected apartment. As sad as it was, that was his reality now. 

But the stress of everything paled in comparison to the happiness that flowed off of Nari in waves. Douxie couldn’t help but smile as he continued down the stairs towards her. Being only a few steps away, he could easily see the pure glee scribbled across her face. She was _so happy_. It was killing him to pull her away from this, but it was a necessary evil. He didn't trust what might lurk in the darkness. Biting back the urge to let her remain in the park forever, Douxie finally called out for her attention. “Hey, Nari. I think it’s time we-”

If his consistent rhythm of walking had been any indication, his foot _should’ve_ hit flat ground at the bottom of the staircase at that moment. He’d been expecting it to. But when his body continued moving downwards towards the last cement step he hadn’t accounted for, his entire form lurched forward. Douxie wasn’t fast enough to catch himself and suddenly he was falling….

Falling…

Falling…

Everything was gone suddenly, replaced by nothing but open air. Although he couldn't see anything, he clearly felt the moisture of the clouds he was plummeting through. Douxie didn’t even have the strength to open his eyes, much less the strength to somehow stop himself from hitting the ground at terminal velocity. There was nothing he could do. After so much effort, after giving literally everything he had, after living for all these years, there was nothing he could do now except fall. 

Falling…

Falling...

But not only that. 

Douxie was dying. 

The pressure of gravity pulling him downwards was crushing his insides. His bones were snapping and his organs were collapsing. Even if the air weren’t being ripped from his lungs, they would’ve been useless. Everything inside him was failing, and it only got worse when his back made contact with the ground. 

He'd never known the grass could feel like stone. His body made a sickening crack as it slammed into what easily must've been the hardest surface ever to exist. Everything burned. As if his blood had suddenly turned to acid, it ripped through his veins and made him long for the crushing sense of gravity again. He’d give anything for the deafening wind whipping through his hair. He’d give anything to stop the feeling of everything coming to an awful, abrupt end. 

It was horrible, knowing that his life was suddenly over. After 900 years of boring, mundane work days, it was all gone in an instant. After countless evenings spent chasing minor creatures with Archie and Zoe, boring band practices where no progress was made, never-ending shifts at Benoit’s where the flow of customers just never seemed to stop. All of it was gone. Everything that he was and ever had been was over. Just like that.

Who knew it would be so simple?

He couldn’t breathe. No matter how hard he tried, his lungs weren’t filling with air and he was terrified because breathing had been so easy just a few minutes ago. But that must’ve been the cost of dying. Of willingly giving his life to protect his friends. It was a conscious choice. He’d _wanted_ to do this. It was the right thing _to_ do. 

But that didn’t make it any less agonizing. 

He knew what happened next. He knew Merlin was waiting for him in that awful, awful space of limbo. A realm between life and death. Merlin and Morgana had left. They’d _left him_ without knowing if he’d actually return to the land of the living. They'd just assumed everything would be fine, that Douxie could handle everything on his own. How could they do something like that to him?

How could they abandon him?

That must’ve been what happened. Douxie died. There was no way around it. After so much pain, there was no logical way for him to survive. But whereas the other sorcerers walked through the doorway, onto the next stage of their afterlife, they’d left Douxie behind. Now he was stuck, forever trapped between two worlds with no way out. Merlin had been so sure that Douxie would return to the world of man, but he'd been wrong. 

It was so, so cold being alone for so long. 

How long had he been in this old workshop? Years? Decades? _Centuries_?? There was no way to be sure. Time was limitless and finite. It was forever and it had never existed. Everything was and it was not. He’d been here for too long. Much too long. 

Douxie hadn't been this alone in a while. He usually always had-

Archie. He needed Archie. 

“Hey, darling, you need to breathe, okay?”

Douxie cracked his eyes open when the voice broke through to his ears (he hadn’t even realized they were closed). How long had it been since he'd heard someone's voice? How long had his eyes been closed? _Why_ were they closed in the first place? The sight he was met with didn’t make sense. Where the walls of the workshop should've been, there was open air. In front of him stretched a large field of grass and an ever-darkening sky. There was a group of people surrounding him as he...sat on a bench? When had he gotten here? _How_ had he gotten here? Who were all of these people? Why were they surrounding him? Why were they-where was-

Nari. 

“Wher’s Nari-” Douxie’s heart rate was increasing within his chest.

His...heart rate? Why did he have a pulse? Corpses were supposed to have hearts that beat within their chests. 

“Douxie, please breath.” A small voice chirped from beside him and he felt a tiny hand lay on his knee. It was incredibly warm and reassuring. If he hadn't been losing his mind, Douxie might've even said the hand was pouring literal comfort through his veins. He felt it relaxing his nerves, pumping his blood cells with oxygen and pouring it desperately into his lungs. His lungs that were somehow inflating and deflating as he-

Breathed. He was breathing. 

“There we go. Just breathe. In...and out...” A hand laid on his shoulder. Douxie didn’t want to look at the body next to him just yet. The form was too large to be Nari and their voice didn't sound like Archie's. Whoever they were had to have been responsible for Douxie's almost death. They had to have been a threat of some kind. But...their presence was oddly comforting and Douxie didn't want to lose it just yet. He knew as soon as he recognized them, he'd have to fight and protect again. For now, though...he couldn't. He wasn't ready to confront the problem just yet. Not while he was so weak and frail and alon-

Archie. 

He needed Archie. 

“Arch-” His vocal cords scraped and his voice broke. Gods, he sounded so pathetic. A weight fell on to his lap and vibrations exploded through his chest.

He knew that rhythm. He knew this feeling. It was Archie. And he was purring. 

Douxie peeled his arms from around himself. Apparently he’d been gripping his own shoulders tightly, though he hadn’t realized until his moment. He moved out of habit and grabbed the furry shape in front of him. Douxie pulled the form towards him, burying his face into the soft fur. The cat shifted with him naturally, rubbing his face against Douxie’s. The wizard breathed in the scent of his familiar’s fur, relishing the comfortable, reliable feeling of his presence. 

Despite Douxie’s panic, Archie seemed calm. His magical aura enveloped Douxie like a long, overdue hug. It was all encompassing, reaching around him entirely and rubbing small circles on his back. It was a safe place. No one could hurt him here. No one could end his life. 

He wasn’t dying. He wasn’t falling. 

He was grounded. He was here. He was safe. 

Douxie slowly pulled back from Archie’s fur, allowing the cat to move more freely and brush up against his chest. He looked forward and saw Nari standing by his knee, her hand still resting on his leg and her eyes filled with worry. Next to him was a middle-aged woman with glasses on a chain that wrapped around the back of her neck. She had a gentle hand on his shoulder and her face softened when he made eye contact with her. 

“Are you back with us now?”

Douxie held Archie closer to his chest but nodded slowly. What had happened? He’d just been walking down the steps, hadn’t he? It had been time to go home. He needed to make sure no one tried to attack them or kidnap Nari or-

“No, no, no. Stay with us. You’re alright, darling, okay? No one here wants to cause you harm. You’re safe.” Something about this woman’s voice was unbelievably believable. Douxie didn’t want to, but he had to listen to her. No one here was going to hurt him, Archie or Nari. They were safe here. 

It felt like a few minutes, but honestly it could have been years. After living for so long, time moved much differently. Especially now, since Douxie wasn’t entirely sure how long he’d been on this bench. Slowly, but surely, things started making more sense. He was able to make out the sounds of his surroundings, the feel of the ground beneath his feet, the smell of the park around him. 

Douxie blinked a couple times, breathing deeply before he looked back at the woman on his right. “What...happened?” He asked timidly, a sheepish blush beginning to brush across his face as he started to understand what her presence meant. Others around him kept their distance but still looked on with concern. Really, it was a bit embarrassing. 

“Well, I think you had yourself a little panic attack. But it’s alright, happens to all of us every now again. Thankfully, you’ve got your sister and cat here watching over you. I know you don’t know who I am, but I’m here to help you, too. You’re okay.”

He was. He really, really was. They were in Central Park, out for a relaxing, evening walk. Or, they had been out for a relaxing walk. Something must have _really_ triggered Douxie’s anxiety. As to what that thing was? He wasn’t going to focus on it at the moment. 

No. Right now, he wanted to go home. Exhaustion was starting to pour over him like waves and his muscles were all taught. He wanted Archie and Nari cuddled up next to them on their cheap, broken couch. He wanted a silly comedy on the small tv and a cheap microwave dinner sitting on the tv stands. 

Douxie focused his breathing and gratefully assured the woman on his side that he was feeling much better now. She slipped a small card into his hand as he rose to his shaky feet.

“Call me if you need anything at all, okay dear? Feel free to stop by my practice anytime. I’ll even give you a few sessions for free if you’re interested. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.” She smiled with her eyes. 

Douxie nodded back, thanking her quietly for all her help. He extended a hand out to Archie who climbed it easily and found his familiar place on Douxie’s shoulders. A few members of the spaced-out crowd around him smiled at the action. The wizard looked down to Nari and offered his hand. She gladly slipped her small appendage into his and wrapped her fingers around his. The trio slowly moved away, thanking the strangers again. 

It took them much longer to get home than it did to get there, but eventually they stopped in front of their apartment. Douxie uneasily undid the locks and let the others inside. The door closed quietly behind him and he replaced the wards over the apartment. As soon as he finished, Nari gently grabbed his hand again and led him to the couch. Almost immediately, his two companions jumped up beside him, pushing their body heat into him, probably to calm his nerves. 

Archie’s purring once again filled his ears and Nari placed her magic into his veins again. Douxie sighed deeply as their magics conferred inside of him, calming him further. “You’re safe, Doux. You’re safe. Whatever happened back there is just a memory. We’ll watch over you for tonight.” Archie's voice was uneven as he spoke through his purring.

Again, Douxie just nodded. He knew he should’ve responded: it would've sounded healthier that just sitting there quietly, staring off into nothing. But really, he was still exhausted and talking was so, so much work. 

“You’re safe,” Nari echoed Archie’s thoughts. 

“I’m safe with you two,” Douxie repeated.

“Your aura needs rest. Just relax.” Nari reached up, stroking down the side of his head. 

“Relax…” Douxie echoed, closing his eyes and leaning back into the couch. 

Archie pushed up against him, his chest exploding with vibrations and bleeding the reassuring feeling into his wizard’s body. “We love you, Douxie.”

Douxie smiled and huffed out a chuckle. “Love you too.” 

He pulled them closer and held them like lifelines. Because when it came down to it, they protected him just as much as he did them. They were and would always be there to ground him when life became too much. Douxie wasn’t ignorant. He knew that there was a good chance something like this would happen again. It hadn’t been the first and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Apparently, he had some deeply repressed memories of the night he’d...died. That sort of trauma was definitely the kind that was going to haunt him for years to come. 

But no matter how bad it got, Douxie knew he could rely on his makeshift family. The next time he found himself in free fall, they would catch him. Just as they always had.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh all the poor children in this series definitely need some therapy. Thank you for reading! I hope everyone enjoyed :)


End file.
